When the East York Arena isn’t about Whipper
At the height of his stardom, Whipper Billy Watson was often billed as "The Pride of East York" and even sponsored a four-team youth hockey league...
The wrestling history of Toronto’s Lakeshore Arena
With the Toronto Maple Leafs hard at work for training camp out at the MasterCard Centre for...
Forgotten World Champions: The powerhouse Frank Sexton
Francis "Frank" Sexton was born in Madison County, Ohio, in 1910 to a large farm family. He earned...
George Tahinos’ Smackdown in Brooklyn Nov. 1, 2024 photo gallery
SlamWrestling.net's George Tahinos was at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on Friday, October...
Jim McMillen found success in many fields
In the professional wrestling world of the 1930s, one of the biggest box office draws was the legendary Jim Londos (1897-1975). Londos was the main event and champion performer on the top four drawing wrestling cards of that decade as reported in the 1950 publication,...
Haystacks Muldoon: Good ol’ boy gone bad
Jack Pfefer knew big men. In fact, he practically invented the trope in the mid-1930s after taking Martin Levy, a down-and-out 600-pound man from Boston eking a living out as a circus freak, and turning him into "The Blimp," a freak of another variety. Of course, The...
Forgotten World Champions: The preacher’s son Rube Wright
For a few months in 1942, “The Preacher’s Son” Rube Wright had as strong a claim to the world heavyweight championship as any of his pro wrestling contemporaries. Wright was born in Texas in 1907. He was one of 11 siblings born to James King Wright, described as a...
Card Exam: Ontario Dominion Day shows
It wasn't always Canada Day, of course. Up until October 1982, Canada Day was called Dominion Day, and it's been a national statutory holiday since 1879 when it was really just called the anniversary of Confederation, which, in case you have forgotten your Canadian...
Mayes McLain was a gridiron legend turned wrestling star
Editor's note: Problematic language may remain in vintage quotations and has been kept to maintain historical accuracy of the speaker's words. In the list of incredible athletes that came out of the American boarding schools for Indigenous peoples there is little...
As big as the sky: The love story of Betsy Ross and G. Bill Wolfe
In the world of professional wrestling, where all the world is a stage and Shakespearean tragedies appear inside the ring and out, G. Bill Wolfe was always a supporting character. His father, William “Billy” Wolfe, was a professional wrestler turned promoter who...
Haystacks Muldoon: Good ol’ boy gone bad
Jack Pfefer knew big men. In fact, he practically invented the trope in the mid-1930s after taking Martin Levy, a down-and-out 600-pound man from Boston eking a living out as a circus freak, and turning him into "The Blimp," a freak of another variety. Of course, The...
Forgotten World Champions: The preacher’s son Rube Wright
For a few months in 1942, “The Preacher’s Son” Rube Wright had as strong a claim to the world heavyweight championship as any of his pro wrestling contemporaries. Wright was born in Texas in 1907. He was one of 11 siblings born to James King Wright, described as a...
Card Exam: Ontario Dominion Day shows
It wasn't always Canada Day, of course. Up until October 1982, Canada Day was called Dominion Day, and it's been a national statutory holiday since 1879 when it was really just called the anniversary of Confederation, which, in case you have forgotten your Canadian...
Mayes McLain was a gridiron legend turned wrestling star
Editor's note: Problematic language may remain in vintage quotations and has been kept to maintain historical accuracy of the speaker's words. In the list of incredible athletes that came out of the American boarding schools for Indigenous peoples there is little...
As big as the sky: The love story of Betsy Ross and G. Bill Wolfe
In the world of professional wrestling, where all the world is a stage and Shakespearean tragedies appear inside the ring and out, G. Bill Wolfe was always a supporting character. His father, William “Billy” Wolfe, was a professional wrestler turned promoter who...
80 years ago — Wrestlers at D-Day
On June 6, 2024, 80 years ago today, the turning point of World War II took place, with the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, with the Allied Forces storming the beaches. Historian Tom Burke noted on Facebook today that there were two wrestlers, Tony "Bill" Olivas...
